Orochimaru
Orochimaru (大蛇丸, Orochimaru) served as the central antagonist for the majority of the series during Part I but later became a secondary antagonist during Part II. Recognised as one of the most powerful ninjaKonohagakure ever produced and one of the "Three Legendary Shinobi" (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin), he operated as an ANBU shinobi within the Rootfaction prior to his defection from the village in pursuit of his own self-serving ambitions. Initially sealed away during the battle between Sasuke and Itachi Uchihaby the latter, he was later revived by the former using his own genetic material that was within his underlingKabuto Yakushi and the portion of consciousness he stored within Anko Mitarashi's Cursed Seal of Heaven Background Orochimaru was an orphan who became a pupil of Hiruzen Sarutobi alongside Jiraiya and Tsunade. Compared to the more laid back Jiraiya, Orochimaru stood out as a genius — his talents, knowledge, and determination were considered by Hiruzen to be that of a prodigy seen once in a generation.[4] According to Tsunade, Orochimaru had a twisted personality even as a child. His sadistic attitude was presumably due to the death of his parents. At some point after losing them, Orochimaru found a white snake near his parents' grave, with Hiruzen explaining that it represents fortune and rebirth inspiring Orochimaru to study kinjutsu and obtain knowledge of all techniques.[5] Jiraiya theorised that Orochimaru went down this path in an attempt to forget his painful memories.During the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru joined Jiraiya and Tsunade in fighting Hanzō, who gave them the title of Konoha's "Three Legendary Shinobi" (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin) as a reward for surviving their battle with him, while the rest of their group were easily slaughtered in the process.[6] On their way back to Konoha, they encountered three Amegakure orphans, with Orochimaru proposing a mercy killing before Jiraiya chose to train them instead.[7][8] In the anime, Orochimaru orchestrated the last known rampage of the Eight-Tails in Kumogakure by infiltrating the village while disguised as a Kumo-nin and posing as Fukai's doctor in order to trick him into taking special genjutsu inducing pills to bring forth the Eight-Tails to attack Kumogakure. After the rampage, Orochimaru obtained that severed horn of the Eight-Tails's horn and harvested Fukai's DNA from it.Some time after Team Hiruzen was disbanded, Orochimaru became anANBU member and joined Root to work directly under Danzō Shimura, while also becoming a mentor to Anko Mitarashi. It was during that time that Orochimaru met Kabuto Yakushi while accompanying Danzō in forcing the boy's guardian Nonō into a mission.[10] While Orochimaru's ambitions did include becoming the Fourth Hokage, he intended to use the title for his own agenda.[11] Though Hiruzen knew the potential evil his former pupil had in him, he hoped to stir Orochimaru from the path before slowly realising that he was beyond anyone's help.Orochimaru was later sent on a mission by Danzō to Iwagakure to ensure that both Kabuto and Nonō, the former having joined Root as a spy, killed each other as they had become major risks. Orochimaru, instead, spirited Kabuto to his hideout, what would become part of his personal hidden village, Otogakure, and revealed Root's intent for Kabuto's life and the role he was to play in it. Though Orochimaru revealed that he was also sent to kill the one who survived this ordeal, he told Kabuto that he saw a bit of himself in the boy and decided killing him would be a waste of great talent. Therefore, Orochimaru offered Kabuto a position as his right hand and spy with the promise of an identity.With Kabuto's assistance, he performed various experiments on his prisoners, some being fellow Konoha shinobi he kidnapped. He uses them as human guinea pigs to develop techniques that would grant him immortality, the end result being Living Corpse Reincarnation. Some time later, Orochimaru was at the outskirts of Kirigakure as he found Kimimaro, the sole survivor of the Kaguya Clan. Soon after, thanks in part to Kimimaro, Orochimaru's research on the source of Jūgo's powers led him to find the Ryūchi Cave and master senjutsu.[13] Unable to enter Sage Mode because of the fragility of his host body, Orochimaru instead developed an alternate method of harnessing his senjutsu chakra through cursed seals, which he tested on Anko and several others before eventually using the finalised versions on Kimimaro and the Sound Four.When Hiruzen finally retired and named Minato Namikaze his successor, Orochimaru saw no more reason to remain in Konoha and began to be less discreet with his actions.[14] This led to his experimentation on the cultivation of Hashirama Senju's DNA with sixty children he kidnapped to recreate the First's Wood Release techniques, having already done so with Danzō, while also endowing the elder with multiple Sharingan.[15][16] However, as his test subjects began to die off, Orochimaru was caught red-handed by Hiruzen, who knew it was his duty to kill him yet lacked the will to do so.[17] Leaving Konoha and his emotionally broken mentor, with Jiraiya's pleas for him to reconsider falling on deaf ears, Orochimaru was unaware that one child had survived his experiment.Orochimaru soon joined the elite criminal organisation Akatsuki, his role in which was unclear, although he was partnered with Sasori, whom he did much good for the Akatsuki with.[18] However, whenItachi Uchiha joined Akatsuki after conducting the Uchiha clan massacre, Orochimaru saw his opportunity to steal his body to gain possession of the Sharingan. Itachi used his Sharingan to stop him from doing so, while also cutting Orochimaru's left hand off to prevent him from breaking the genjutsu he was under, which lead to him leaving Akatsuki to acquire a new body.[19] For Orochimaru's defection, Sasori developed a grudge against him and used Kabuto, whom Orochimaru had sent to serve as his spy within Akatsuki, to counter spy as his sleeper agent. However, Orochimaru discovered and undid the technique Sasori had used on him.[20] Orochimaru had also been on a life-long search for theTotsuka Sword, an ethereal sword, but was unaware that it was in the possession of Itachi'sSusanoo. Abilities Being one of the legendary Sannin, as well as a former member of the S-rank criminal organisation Akatsuki, Orochimaru is an extraordinarily powerful ninja, being Kage-level in his own right. He was considered as a child prodigy that appeared only once a generation. His skills were so great that during the time of his invasion of Konoha, the Third Hokage feared no one in the village would be able to defeat him or even fight on equal footing with him, even himself, and that Orochimaru was strong enough to take down an entire small nation on his own. Even Kakashi Hatake, one of Konoha's greatest shinobi, was filled with tremendous fear when he met him during the Chūnin Exams, and himself admitted that he wouldn't even stand a chance against his level of power.Sasuke Uchiha and Suigetsu Hōzuki also stated that the former's victory over Orochimaru was only because the latter was already severely weakened prior to their confrontation.During his battle against the Third Hokage, his arms were sealed by the latter, preventing Orochimaru from forming hand signs and effectively stripping him of most of his technique arsenal. Despite this, he was able to hold his own against a four-tailed Naruto, plus while his body was greatly weakened. Even with the danger Naruto imposed, Orochimaru found the battle highly entertaining, even playing with Naruto's initial three forms. Even when his body gave in, he expressed regret that he couldn't complete the battle. Even among the Sannin, he was the one who originally stood out for individual ability. Due to him rarely being shown fighting, he has only displayed a limited amount of techniques, though his fighting style is very fluid and it stands to reason that in his efforts to learn all existing techniques, his array of abilities has probably become larger than any other single person and that he has vast knowledge on all forms of techniques. After acquiring the Uzumaki's mask of the Shinigami, he was able to break the seal on his arms, regaining his former strength.Wishing to obtain all of the techniques in the world, Orochimaru has a vast arsenal of techniques at his disposal, ranging from simple offensive ones, which nonetheless become deadly when performed by him, to higher ranking, more complicated ones. Orochimaru is also very adept with transformation, as he was able to view Sasuke's battle with Yoroi Akadō during the Chūnin Exams without any suspicion. He was also able to pose as the Fourth Kazekage for weeks, fooling the entire village of Sunagakure, including its elite shinobi and the ones closest to the dead Kazekage.He is also able to use Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, through which he can level a wide area with a powerful gust of wind. In terms of defensive techniques, Orochimaru uses both Summoning: Rashōmon and Summoning: Triple Rashōmon, in which he summons a varying number of large demonic gates that are capable of enduring even the most intense forms of damage. Orochimaru can also use a technique to avoid damage, and another to temporarily paralyse an opponent. In the anime, of the few techniques he was seen using is the Earth Release Shadow Clone, which creates a copy of himself out of mud that can attack on his behalf.In his quest to gain immortality, Orochimaru has made a number of modifications to his body, resulting in his natural form taking on the appearance of a giant, white snake composed of many smaller snakes. The snakes that compose Orochimaru's body can extend themselves to strike and bind targets, and if Orochimaru is sliced to pieces, the body simply can reform, making him very difficult to kill. Additionally, the blood that is released by killing the snakes is poisonous, evaporating into the air and paralysing anyone who has breathed it in, something that makes long lasting fights against him a bad choice.The primary use of the form is with his Living Corpse Reincarnation, which allows him to transfer his soul to another body and extend his life indefinitely. To use this technique, Orochimaru leaves his former body, revealing his true form. Once he has done this, he swallows the new body and transports its current inhabitant to a dimension within himself where he absorbs them, thus allowing him to take over their body. Orochimaru can only perform this technique once every three years, which is also around the time that his new body begins to reject him and forces him to find a new host. Although he might leave their bodies behind, the souls of those whose bodies he has taken always remain within Orochimaru's subconscious. After taking over another body, Orochimaru modifies it to suit his theme of snakes, in order to increase his survival capabilities. These modifications include stretching and bending the body and reconnecting the body in case of bisection. Orochimaru is also able to shed his body and recreate himself, which can be used to heal injuries. Thus, even if Orochimaru is unable to transfer bodies, he can easily heal and evade attacks, rendering him virtually immortal. Orochimaru also alters the face of his host bodies to look like his original form.Orochimaru's last method of immortality are the cursed seals he developed. In addition to his senjutsu chakra, each cursed seal contains a portion of Orochimaru's consciousness, which allows him to share the senses of those who bear his seals. In the event that he is killed or sealed, he can be revived through one of his cursed seals if an individual presses flesh containing his DNA up to the cursed seal and uses the Evil Releasing Method. Through this process, Orochimaru can be completely resurrected any number of times, as long as there are enough remaining cursed seals and pieces of his DNA.From his childhood days, Orochimaru was identified as a genius shinobi and a once-in-a-generation prodigy. During his lifetime, his associations with powerful shinobi and groups, such as his tutoring by the Third Hokage and his stints with both the Root and Akatsuki organisations, as well as his later solo exploits into gaining knowledge, allowed him to develop and gain access to vast amounts of information.Orochimaru is a master planner and manipulator. For years, he evaded capture from both Konoha and the Akatsuki, all the while setting up a network of fully supplied hideouts throughout various countries. He was also able to manipulate the entire village of Sunagakure into invading Konoha, by posing as the Fourth Kazekage without anyone noticing, having killed the real one weeks before the invasion. He was capable of manipulating multiple people into becoming his willing pawns and guinea pigs for his experiments, using a combination of manipulation, insight into a victim's past and the promise of power to gain their loyalty. The greatest examples of this are Kabuto and Kimimaro, who idolised the Sannin and showed nothing but absolute loyalty and respect for him. He even developed a fail-safe in case he was ever killed or sealed in the form of his cursed seals. At some point in time, Orochimaru and Kabuto learned that Tobi was not the real Madara Uchiha, although it would ultimately be Kabuto who would use this knowledge to his full advantage.This wealth of research has proven to have devastating effects long after Orochimaru's sealing, as seen through Kabuto's performances during the Fourth Shinobi World War. Due to this research, he is easily capable of deducing the workings of an enemy's techniques and fighting style. As a researcher, Orochimaru is also a very skilled teacher, being capable of recognising a person's potential and bring it out in relatively short amounts of time. The greatest example of this is his training of Sasuke, where in little more than two years he was able to develop the young Uchiha's abilities to the point where he was capable of going toe-to-toe against several high-level shinobi, including various Kage-level opponents.During his research on Jūgo's clan, Orochimaru eventually tracked down the source of their power when he discovered the Ryūchi Cave and senjutsu. Here, he attempted to learn senjutsu as well asSage Mode. However he was unable to use this power to its full potential due to being unable to find a host body that could bear such an ability, making it an unsuitable option for battle altogether.[28] However he does have enough knowledge to both release another person's Sage Mode and absorb the senjutsu chakra inside them as seen with Kabuto.To compensate for this flaw, Orochimaru developed other novel uses for his senjutsu chakra: thecursed seals.[30] Combining this chakra with the enzyme produced by Jūgo, he was able to create these unique seals, which triggered a change near-identical to that of the Sage Transformation, but with different benefits and drawbacks. The senjutsu chakra locked in these seals is naturally quite powerful as Kabuto was amazed at a portion of Orochimaru's chakra he absorbed from Anko,[31]even after he assimilated the collective DNA of team Taka, the Sound Five and of Orochimaru himself. These seals also carried the additional benefit of acting as anchors to Orochimaru's consciousness, allowing him to observe events through anyone branded by the seal and even revive him any number of times under the right circumstances.Orochimaru's trademark trait is his affinity with snakes that, in addition to impacting the appearance and composition of his true form, and granting him the ability to extend his limbs to abnormal lengths and to take on snake-like traits in battle, caused him to learn a number of snake-related abilities, including learning Sage Mode. His snake-related techniques have been referred to as Power of the White Snake. One such ability is being able to summon giant snakes to fight alongside him in battle, made possible by the summoning contract tattooed on his arm. This allows him to summon snakes within his vicinity, as opposed to having to place his hand on a surface.[27] If need be, Orochimaru can morph into a giant snake, despite being slightly smaller in size to his larger summonings.[27] His signature summon was Manda, a colossal snake which was described as the largest in the world, with immense fighting capabilities. With Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, Orochimaru can instantly call forth snakes from his sleeves and mouth to attack his opponents in large numbers with venomous bites. A stronger variation of this technique was the Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, in which the summoned snakes grow noticeably in both numbers and size.Another usage of snakes comes in the form of his signature weapon, the Sword of Kusanagi, the Kusanagi of Japanese legend. The sword, kept within the mouth of a snake within his own throat, is able to extend to great lengths to attack enemies that are very far away, can be controlled remotely by Orochimaru, and can return to him by turning in a snake. Although he is capable of wielding the sword normally with great proficiency, it's not uncommon for him to use it without ever removing it from his mouth. The sword is stated to be able to cut through almost anything, and despite failing to penetrate four-tailed Naruto's chakra shroud, did push him back an incredible length. In the anime, he is also capable of having numerous Kusanagi-like blades sprout from the mouths of the snakes he summons.His strongest technique is the Eight Branches Technique, which allows him to transform into an eight-headed, eight-tailed giant serpent bigger than the already colossal Manda, another referenceto the Japanese myth. This was described as the ultimate snake-related technique, which turned the user into an immensely powerful "Dragon God".Due to the experiments on his body, Orochimaru is almost-completely invulnerable to most conventional techniques. He has endured a flurry of punches from Tsunade's monstrous superhuman strength, a direct attack from Naruto's three-tailed state, and a direct hit from Sasuke's Dragon Fire Technique,[27] all of which were able to only damage his face mask. Even being bisected by a four-tailed Naruto was unable to slow him down, as he simply reconnected himself. He also has immense strength in the anime, as when he was walking to Tanzaku Quarters, he was immensely frustrated by the pain he was in and used only a kick to knock down a tree.[33] In another instance he was able to strike with enough force to destroy a large tree, despite being a distance away from it.[27] He is also skilled inkenjutsu, which he uses in conjunction with the unique properties of his Sword of Kusanagi. Much like Yoroi Akadō, he can quickly absorb chakra through hand contact, as shown when absorbed all of his chakra back from Kabuto instantly; using the chakra to strengthen himself. However, unlike Yoroi, Orochimaru is also able to absorb any information from the one whose chakra he's absorbing. Although downplayed for much of the series, Orochimaru is also very skilled in the use of fūinjutsu, even in the midst of battle. Most notably, he has been seen using the Five Elements Seal, to seal off another's access to chakra and thus, rendering them useless. He is also capable of using its counterpart, the Five Elements Unseal, to a degree high enough to release the seal and extract atailed beast from its jinchūriki.Due to his desire to obtain all known ninja techniques, Orochimaru developed extensive research work throughout his years, performing experiments on multiple individuals and on himself to comprehend their abilities or develop new ones. Such examples include him discovering the workings of Jūgo's clan's abilities and his subsequent development of the cursed seal, the modifications done to his own body, the extensive research done to Hashirama Senju's cells as well as integrating them into Danzō Shimura, amongst many other test subjects. Most notably, Orochimaru was able to rewrite Yamato's DNA to that of Hashirama's in the attempt to recreate his considerable powers. Although Yamato survived the procedure, he was a success among many failures. Kabuto once noted, that Orochimaru could even protect the cellular structure of his experiments, preventing anyone from gaining knowledge from them.[32] In the anime it was revealed that even from a very small sample, Orochimaru could cultivate the cells to recreate the original over time, as shown with what he did with the horn of Gyūki.[9] The horn itself not only grew to its original size, but also produced vast amounts of chakra, identical to the latter. Although later put into use by Kabuto, the extracted chakra was potent enough to create a pseudo-jinchūriki, with power equal to that of a truejinchūriki .With his expertise in the medical field, Orochimaru was able to concoct a series of drugs with any desired effect, each designed to aid him in what ever he's doing. At one point in time, Orochimaru created genjutsu pills that were strong enough to subdue a jinchūriki and their tailed beast simultaneously. In another, Orochimaru created the Mind Awakening Pill, to help speed up thecursed seal's progression.Orochimaru is one of the three people capable of performingSummoning: Impure World Reincarnation, perfecting the technique developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. In his first shown use, he reincarnated both the technique's creator and Hashirama Senju to fight against his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Though Hiruzen sealed the part of his soul that represented his arms to bare him from using Impure World Reincarnation, Orochimaru used the Shinigami Mask during the Fourth Shinobi World War to spiritually restore himself and summoned all four Hokage at once.[24] His prowess with this technique seems to have increased, as Tobirama noted that the reincarnated Hokage were now nearly to their full power as opposed to his previous attempt.After Orochimaru took over a White Zetsu spore clone and acquired Hashirama Senju's cells, he was able to strengthen his control over the reincarnated Hokage,[25][26] as seen when he was able to completely immobilise Tobirama who was resisting control for a brief time, though Hashirama was still able to easily break Orochimaru's restraint.